s-p-r-i-n-g-t-i-g-e-r

[s-p-r-i-n-g-t-i-g-e-r]

[s-p-r-i-n-g-t-i-g-e-r]

“It’s okay to change your yes to a no. Yeses aren’t permanent. They’re something we choose again and again, each and every day. Something we have the right to recall and reconsider as soon as saying yes no longer feels conducive to our wellbeing and happiness. It doesn’t matter whether you said yes to a job, a date, a relationship, sex, a favor to a friend, a social endeavor, or a vow of silence — you don’t ever have to commit to something that forces you to compromise who you are and what feels right; especially if it’s something you agreed to under pressure, intimidation, or force. Changing your yes to a no might make people angry. It might hurt their feelings, cause them to see you as a flake, and result in lost connections. But if saying no means staying true to yourself, honoring your feelings, and making self-care a priority, it’s worth it. You are worth it. Don’t let anyone convince you otherwise.”

— Daniell Koepke

[s-p-r-i-n-g-t-i-g-e-r]

Shout out to "i wanna socialize with my Internet friends but I don't have anything to talk about", gotta be one of my least favorite predicaments

[s-p-r-i-n-g-t-i-g-e-r]

[s-p-r-i-n-g-t-i-g-e-r]

"Write for yourself"

Brother, I literally have more than 2 million words sitting in my drafts folder instead of posted on AO3.

I write for myself. I post for community interaction.

[s-p-r-i-n-g-t-i-g-e-r]

[s-p-r-i-n-g-t-i-g-e-r]

[s-p-r-i-n-g-t-i-g-e-r]

thank you sir.

[s-p-r-i-n-g-t-i-g-e-r]

hbd, gyu!

[s-p-r-i-n-g-t-i-g-e-r]

[s-p-r-i-n-g-t-i-g-e-r]

[s-p-r-i-n-g-t-i-g-e-r]

dongsaeng line sketches

[s-p-r-i-n-g-t-i-g-e-r]

...you need to accept the reality of being a person who writes books. Here’s how it works: After you publish a book, there is a reckoning. All of the emotions you suppressed and fought with writing alone suddenly rush in and crush you. If your book doesn’t sell, you feel sick. If it sells a ton, you’re also in for a scary ride. When your goal is to make art, to give a big piece of yourself to the world, to tell the truth, and — crucially! — to FACE THE TRUTH, then your goal is also to feel like a complete fucking idiot, to ask for way too much, to seem impetuous and enraged and self-centered and needy. You will stand up in a nearly empty room somewhere and you will read your book out loud and you will think “I am such a loser” — and you will also think “I deserve it all.”

Your most important job as an artist is to listen to that second voice — and believe it. [...]

I’ve been taking my gifts for granted for a long time now. That’s just what people do. It’s embarrassing to realize what an ingrate you are. But it’s also embarrassing to look at your gifts and acknowledge them in public and continue to push them into people’s faces, in spite of everything.

It’s embarrassing to be human.

Writing is a very public quest for love. It’s embarrassing to ask for love out in the open. It’s embarrassing to believe that someone will understand you eventually. It’s embarrassing to know that you’ll keep working hard to be loved, to share yourself, to show yourself, whether anyone is paying attention or not.

But listen to me: You write because you believe in it. You still believe, even now. You crave love, and that part of you isn’t humiliating. It’s sad and pure and true. It’s a gift. So stop telling yourself lies and repeating this world’s bad noises. No one smart measures quality on sales. No one enlightened reduces art to commerce. You are an artist. Fuck everybody. You deserve it all.

-- heather havrilesky, excerpt from ask polly dec 2024 - "i published a novel and no one cares"

[s-p-r-i-n-g-t-i-g-e-r]

Writing tips for long fics that helped me that no one asked for.

1.) Don't actually delete content from your WIP unless it is minor editing - instead cut it and put it in a secondary document. If you're omitting paragraphs of content, dialog, a whole scene you might find a better place for it later and having it readily available can really save time. Sometimes your idea was fantastic, but it just wasn't in the right spot.

2.) Stuck with wording the action? Just write the dialog then revisit it later.

3.) Stuck on the whole scene? Skip it and write the next one.

4.) Write on literally any other color than a white background. It just works. (I use black)

5.) If you have a beta, while they are beta-ing have them read your fic out loud. Yes, I know a lot of betas/writers do not have the luxury of face-timing or have the opportunity to do this due to time constraints etc but reading your fic out loud can catch some very awkward phrasing that otherwise might be missed. If you don't have a beta, you read it out loud to yourself. Throw some passion into your dialog, you might find a better way to word it if it sounds stuffy or weird.

6.) The moment you have an idea, write it down. If you don't have paper or a pen, EMAIL it to yourself or put it in a draft etc etc. I have sent myself dozens of ideas while laying down before sleep that I 10/10 forgot the next morning but had emailed them to myself and got to implement them.

7.) Remember - hits/likes/kudos/comments are not reflective of the quality of your fic or your ability to write. Most people just don't comment - even if they say they do, they don't, even if they preach all day about commenting, they don't, even if they are a very popular blog that passionately reminds people to comment - they don't comment (I know this personally). Even if your fic brought tears to their eyes and it haunted them for weeks and they printed it out and sent it to their friends they just don't comment. You just have to accept it. That being said - comment on the fic you're reading now, just do it, if you're 'shy' and that's why you don't comment the more you comment the better you'll get at it. Just do it.

8.) Remove unrealistic daily word count goals from your routine. I've seen people stress 1500 - 2000 words a day and if they don't reach that they feel like a failure and they get discouraged. This is ridiculous. Write when you can, but remove absurd goals. My average is 500 words a day in combination with a 40 hour a week job and I have written over 200k words from 2022-2023.

9.) There are dozens of ways to do an outline from precise analytical deconstruction that goes scene by scene to the minimalist bullet point list - it doesn't matter which one you use just have some sort of direction. A partial outline is better than no outline.

10.) Write for yourself, not for others. Write the fic you know no one is going to read. Write the fic that sounds ridiculous. You will be so happy you put it out in the world and there will be people who will be glad it exists.

[s-p-r-i-n-g-t-i-g-e-r]

happy birthday soobie~

[s-p-r-i-n-g-t-i-g-e-r]

god bless anyone who comments on ao3

[s-p-r-i-n-g-t-i-g-e-r]